Abdullah travelled Thursday 120 kilometres (74 miles) south of Amman to Karak, where a traditional mourning tent was set up for Kassasbeh’s family.

Hundreds of people gathered as the king sat next to the 26-year-old first lieutenant’s father.

Safi al-Kassasbeh branded IS “infidels and terrorists who know no humanity or human rights”, and said the “international community must destroy” the group.

IS had offered to spare Kassasbeh’s life and free Japanese journalist Kenji Goto — who was later beheaded — in exchange for Rishawi’s release.

Rishawi, 44, was sentenced to death for her role in triple hotel bombings in Amman in 2005 that killed 60 people.

She was closely linked to IS’s predecessor organisation in Iraq, and seen as an important symbol for the jihadists.

Jordanian television suggested Kassasbeh was killed on January 3, before IS offered to spare him and free Goto in return for Rishawi’s release.

Following the airman’s capture, another member of the US-led coalition, the United Arab Emirates, withdrew from air strike missions over fears for the safety of its pilots, a US official said.

On Thursday, the US military said it was “repositioning some assets” to northern Iraq in a move designed to shorten the response time needed to reach pilots who end up in IS-held territory, officials said.

US President Barack Obama, who hosted King Abdullah in a hastily organised meeting before his return to Jordan, decried the “cowardice and depravity” of IS.

Benjamin Netanyahu also extended his condolences to the king in a phone call on Thursday, the Israeli premier’s office said.

IS had previously beheaded two US journalists, an American aid worker and two British aid workers in similar videos. It has also killed a second Japanese hostage.